Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated assembly method that uses an automated assembly apparatus having an assembly robot with a plurality of hands, and an automated assembly apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, when performing a plurality of jobs by a single robot in an automated assembly apparatus, a tool changer has been used to change a hand. However, there has been a problem in that the use of the tool changer to change a hand or tool inconveniently takes time, resulting in an increased cycle time. Hence, there is a demand for a robot hand capable of performing a plurality of jobs while minimizing the changing time.
As a means for solving the aforesaid problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-323559 describes a robot hand apparatus having a single robot provided with three hands, namely, a swaging hand, a shaft chuck hand, and a gear chuck hand. The use of the means described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-323559 enables a single robot to promptly perform a plurality of jobs.
However, the robot hand apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-323559 is adapted to perform jobs by an articulated robot, which has one hand in a direction perpendicular to a tool adapter and two hands in a direction parallel thereto. This means that the robot hand apparatus does not enable an orthogonal robot to perform jobs. In addition, the hands have to be sufficiently spaced away from each other so as to prevent hands from interfering with a hand performing a job, thus resulting in an increased space required for performing jobs.
An object of the present invention is to solve problems that cannot be solved by conventional techniques and therefore to provide an automated assembly method and an automated assembly apparatus that enable an orthogonal robot to perform jobs, ensure no interference among hands, and permit higher space efficiency.